Pillars of the community

Author

Jeannie Lee is Immediate Past President of the Genetics Society of America. She is a Professor of Genetics and Pathology at Harvard Medical School and an HHMI Investigator. The views expressed in her "Frameshifts" posts are hers and are not necessarily endorsed by the Society.

When I became President earlier this year, I set out with two major goals in mind for the Society in 2018: (1) To establish a new Strategic Plan that would map out a vibrant 5-10 year future for our community that includes scholarship, support for geneticists at all career stages, public engagement, and advocacy; and (2) to set us on a course for long-term fiscal sustainability in order to reach our ambitious goals.

More than ever, science depends on teamwork. That extends to scientific societies — just like a lab, a Society is a collaborative effort that succeeds or fails on the hard work and ingenuity of its members. During my year as GSA President, I asked you all for help in setting new strategic directions. After all, it’s your Society. I couldn’t be more delighted at the response, which drew contributions from a huge number of participants, including strategic plan working groups, “Blue Sky” meeting participants, committee members, Board members, and staff, not to mention the thousands of you who responded to a plethora of community surveys. Following the Blue Sky meeting and analysis of the community surveys, we convened a number of Working Groups to study each of the “Strategic Pillars” created in response to the community’s participation and to make recommendations to the Board.

The Working Groups have done an outstanding job and I would like to give special recognition to each of the members, who provided creative ideas and showed spectacular commitment to the planning process. Listed below, these volunteers included many from our Early Career Scientist Committees, as well as Board members, GSA journal authors, conference attendees, and others from our community. These groups met remotely, discussed and researched their topics, and produced reports to support Board deliberations in record time. Thank you, and we hope to engage you all in the future plans that will grow from your suggestions.

Thanks in part to the Working Group reports and excellent ideas from the Blue Sky participants, our Board of Directors meeting last week was incredibly positive. We feel energized not only by the community support but by the big challenges we face and the even bigger possibilities in front of us. In this spirit, the Board ratified the eight Strategic Pillars upon which the Strategic Plan over the next 5–10 years will be built. These pillars both build on our existing strengths and align our efforts with aspirational goals for the future:

Support the professional development of our members, including at early and mid-career stages, and across all sectors of the workforce

Connect and encourage collaboration between scientists through hosting conferences

Foster a diverse and inclusive international community of scientists

Serve as an authoritative voice of the genetics community

Advocate for science and scientists, including informing the public and legislators about the value of research from the genetics community

Support the genetics community in engaging and communicating with the public

Ensure fiscal sustainability of the Society and its programs

Thus, I am happy to report that we have largely accomplished the goals for 2018. In 2019, we will begin to flesh out details of the Strategic Plan with more support from our deeply engaged community. We have also identified a new approach for long-term fiscal sustainability in order to grow these Pillars, and have begun to implement the fundraising strategy that includes not only continued membership support but also sponsorship from industry and focused investors. The buzz around The Allied Genetics Conference in 2020 will be a focal point for our membership and the Board’s continued work on the Strategic Plan. I am enthusiastic about continuing to serve on the GSA Board and its Executive Committee in the coming year and look forward to working with the incoming President, Terry Magnuson, and Vice-President, Denise Montell. It has been an enormous pleasure for me to serve as President, and I want to thank each and every one of you for helping to shape an exciting future for the Society.